Me And The Natural World

Last year I bought a t-shirt from my University's tramping club because it had a kea on it. When asked if I wanted to join I said no because I didn't want to hold everyone up.

I'm pretty sure the guy thought I meant it was because I was slow or not up to a long hike but it was actually because I have a habit of dropping down to inspect some unknown plant or standing still to listen for bird calls.

If it's about the destination you don't want someone like me along because, if you do get there, it will be in a delayed fashion and probably after enduring several lectures on avian behavior.

My need to capture an image of a small plant called a bidi bidi led a group of trampers coming up behind me to believe I had fallen and hurt myself. I was laying down on my side and they couldn't see my camera.

Must photograph, identify and catalog!

In the above photo my friend Hill caught of picture of me crouching to photograph one of the two carnivorous plants that inhabit this Alpine trail. Hill is one of those people who takes an interest in flora and fauna wherever she goes so she can tolerate nature walks with me.

I also have a tendency to pull faces and do really dumb stunts which usually put us both in hysterics. For example, I thought it would be neat to get a couple of action shots of me running in terror from the giant moa statue at the Bealey Hotel.

My. God.

Something happened to my face. My mouth made a melting sausage shape and my eyes were reduced to two tiny tadpoles swimming furiously towards each other.

And my chin? Whither my jaw? It was as if the back of my head was swallowing the front bit.

Although we both laughed until the tears came, I was quite discomfited that I could look that awful.

Anytime I get too full of myself all it would take to shut me down is someone whispering, "remember the great moa stunt of 2017?" And that would be me silenced.

Hanging Out With Friends

My friend Hill recently came to visit from America and she has an awesome camera and a great eye for photography.

We visited Arthur's Pass and saw several Kea. I noted their tags so I could report the sightings on the recently launched kea database.

Alex Whispers His First "Trick or Treat"

We have an American living with us at the moment and she's fond of observing American traditions such as Christmas and Halloween.

In order to facilitate the proper observance of Halloween I thought we might escort my son out around the local neighborhoods.

This last minute decision saw me turning one of his printed black t-shirts backward, pinning a pillowcase around his neck, placing a borrowed pointy hat on his head and labeling him "baby Gandalf."

A lot of Kiwis don't like Halloween. They think it's incredibly rude to knock on a stranger's door and demand sweets (or anything else for that matter). The implied threat of a "trick" doesn't go down either.

Alex, being a true kiwi child, didn't take naturally to asking strangers for candy. He silently watched as candy was put into his bucket at the first house. At the second he handed a piece of his candy to the little girl who gave him a goody bag. At another house he whispered "trick or treat" so faintly the man at the door leaned down and said, "what was that now?"

We found that it was almost impossible to tell who was giving out candy and who wasn't. Some people made a slight attempt to decorate with a spiderweb over a light fixture and others just sort of watched for you from a doorway with no decorations at all.

At one house a woman held out a bowl with a skeleton over it and when Alex went for a piece of candy, she pressed a button that made the skeleton come down on his hand and give an evil laugh.

Alex was horrified. I marked that moment as a time my son would later discuss in therapy. "Why am I apprehensive of strangers with bowls? Let me think back..."

We did a lot of walking for very little reward but the other American seemed happy and Alex didn't care so that was okay.

When we got home, Alex was allowed to pick out one piece of candy while his chaperones taste tested the rest of it for "safety reasons."

And that was Alex's first Halloween.